1. The Field of the Invention
This invention concerns dental floss devices and the manner in which they may be used for preventative and corrective dental care. This invention further concerns dental floss containers, of the one-time use variety, serving also as handles by which the user may manipulate and use the device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art abounds with devices which concern the use of dental floss. U.S. Pat. No. 2,982,264, issued Apr. 25, 1961, by A. F. De Felice, teaches a dental cleaner massager, wherein such massager utilizes a floss member of conventional construction, secured to the apex of two cone-like shaped bodies fabricated from an elastomeric material. In use, the length of the dental floss, extending between the apex of the cones, pass between the teeth of the user so as to permit the tapered sharp cone to enter into the space between the teeth, further enhancing the cleaning process and providing for massaging. The cones act as handles for the apparatus. In use, the De Felice device requires a container to house a portion of the dental floss to be applied to the teeth, and presumptively, at least portions of one of the cones that may come in contact with the mouth of the user for sanitary purposes.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,443,415, issued June 15, 1948 to J. Buscarino describes a dental floss holder, which holder has a finger grasping portion and an anvil affixed thereto. Secured to the distal most ends of the open ended anvil is a section of dental floss. Unfortunately, such apparatus utilizes a segment of dental floss which is pre-stretched and defined as to length, for all applications. Further, the Buscarino teaching fails to describe means to maintain the anvil portion, which is insertable into the mouth of the user, in a clean condition, either between uses or prior to its first use.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,821 issued Oct. 10, 1972 to John Q. Adams, IV, discloses a pair of caps or thimbles that engage over two fingers of the user, the closed ends of the thimbles being apertured to allow feeding of the dental floss therethrough, from the supply container--as is required to clean teeth. The thimbles functionally clamp the dental floss to the fingers so that the floss may be properly tensioned for use without the inconvenience and frequent discomfort which arises when the dental floss is wound around the fingertips. In one embodiment, Adams describes the thimble carrying the dental floss being stored within the two thimbles, when such thimbles are disposed having their open mouth portions adjacent one another. Since the thimbles themselves must be threaded, in their use, and the thimbles may come into contact with the interior portions of the mouth of the user, the thimbles and the handled portions of the dental floss, being dispensed from the spool, must be kept clean in order to insure the safety and convenience of the user. The Adams teaching fails to provide for this problem.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,016,892 issued Apr. 12, 1977 to Ingram S. Chodorow, describes a dental flossing device utilizing a segment or strand of dental floss with two gripping means secured to the segment and spaced apart a fixed distance. The grippers are dimensioned to be suitable for grasping between two fingers of the user's hand. Chodorow describes techniques for fastening the grippers to long lengths of the floss material such that a spool consisting of many grippers and an extended length of dental floss may be stored within the container. The container is provided with an opening through which selected lengths of the floss-gripper combinations may be dispensed and separated from the bulk of the composite assembly, stored on the spool, prior to use.
In all of the above described disclosures, no teaching illustrates an apparatus in which a cut length of dental floss is secured at the two free ends of the dental floss, to a housing containing same. No housing is taught which, when broken apart, serves as handles for manual grasping use, nor serves as a storage mechanism for a finite length of dental floss which has an unextended length greater than the distance separating the portions of the intact housing to which each end of the dental floss is secured.